


Copious Amounts of Leather from Down the Hall

by filipaalexa



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, M/M, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:20:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7941118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/filipaalexa/pseuds/filipaalexa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It bothered Steve to no end that they had lived in that building for at least four months and they still hadn’t met their front door neighbors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Copious Amounts of Leather from Down the Hall

Steve prided himself on being a friendly, social person so when they moved in he made it his goal to meet all their neighbors. He didn’t chase them down or anything, he simply acted polite and kind whenever they approached him to welcome them in to the building.

They weren’t best friends but he didn’t want them to die either. They were friendly enough, smiling at each other if they met by the mailboxes or chatting idly if they happened to bump in to each other on the stairs, and every time Sam teased him about it Steve threw in his face that there was nothing wrong in being polite and that, hey, at least now they had people to ask for eggs or something if they needed it.

So Steve and Sam were on fairly good terms with almost everyone in their building. Steve’s favorite was the old lady living on the first floor with the way too large, slobbering Rottweiler that acted as her therapy dog and the stern smile every time she found Steve walking in without an umbrella while it was pouring outside. Sam was infatuated with the pretty blonde girl that lived on the third floor in the apartment directly under theirs for a whole different reason but that was his business. It didn’t stop Steve from teasing him.

It bothered Steve to no end that they had lived in that building for at least four months and they still hadn’t met their front door neighbors.

At first Steve thought the apartment was just empty so he didn’t think much of it but during a conversation with Sharon, the pretty blonde girl, she had brought up two names he hadn’t heard yet.

_Bucky and Natasha._

So he asks who they are and Sharon looks at him like he’s stupid for a few seconds before saying: “Your front door neighbors.”

It’s Steve’s turn to look at her like she’s stupid. “The apartment in front of mine is empty.”

Sharon snorts leaning back against the railing of the stairs connecting the ground floor to the first floor. “No, it’s not. Literally, two people and a very fat cat live there. But I get how you haven’t met them yet, they keep weird hours and they tend to keep to themselves, but they’re nice and ridiculously hot.”

This was a month in, Steve remembered because he and Sam still had boxes littering their apartment floor.

Now, four months later, he still hasn’t met their front door neighbors but he had been noticing that the apartment wasn’t in fact empty and Sharon was just pulling one on him. He heard noises from time to time. Muffled music, muffled sounds of a shower or a toilet flushing, muffled voices, muffled sexual sounds that had made Sam roll on the floor laughing while Steve blushed. The thing he heard more was the door closing.

He tells himself that he hadn’t noticed it at first because he was stressed with the moving and work but now it was just getting ridiculous. Sharon wasn’t joking when she said they kept weird hours because Steve and Sam were still to run in to this Bucky and this Natasha.

It was starting to make him itch.

-

“You know you can just go over there, knock on their door and introduce yourself,” Sharon says from where she’s laying on their couch playing with her phone. Sharon pretty much lives in their apartment now, she was the biggest surprise that came with this move. Steve doesn’t mind, he likes Sharon a lot and she clearly likes him and Sam. Sam obviously doesn’t mind one bit.

Sam snorts from their little kitchenette, his eyes never leaving the pot he was stirring. “He has an acute phobia of doing that. God knows why.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “I don’t have an acute phobia of that, I just think it’s weird to go over there and introduce myself like this. Especially after four months.”

“You literally knocked on my door and introduced yourself,” Sharon deadpans looking at him with a raised brow.

“That was different. Your mail ended up in our box so I did the polite thing and went to give it back to you.”

“And the others in this building?”

“They came to us,” Sam answers. “That wasn’t him.”

Steve looks at her with his arms crossed, a smug smile on his face, and Sharon drops the subject with a pout on her lips.

-

Six months in.

That’s how long it’s passed.

Its six months in and only just now is he meeting Natasha.

Sharon wasn’t joking when she said they kept weird hours and she wasn’t joking when she said they were ridiculously hot. Well, at least Natasha was, he was still to evaluate the ghost known as Bucky.

They quite literally bump in to each other on the way out of the building, Steve going to work and Natasha coming back from wherever she had been, and start mumbling apologies to each other before they even stare each other in the eye.

“Oh, hi. I don’t think we’ve met,” Natasha says finally looking up, pushing a red curl away from her eyes.

“No. I’m Steve,” He says with a smile, offering her his hand.

She awkwardly moves her purse and heeled shoes to her other hand before shaking Steve’s hand. “Natasha. I think I live across the hall from you.”

She’s slightly tipsy, Steve notices, and judging by her choice of outfit she was coming back from a night out. Steve wished he had the time for a night out, he missed night outs with Sam before they turned in to respectable adults that worked and crashed in bed by ten.

“Yeah, you do. You’re a hard person to run in to.”

She smiles. “Yeah. Occupational hazard, work all night and sleep all day.”

Steve hums with a nod. “I should let you go to sleep then.”

Natasha chuckles moving her heels back to her left hand. “I’ll see you around, I guess,” She says moving past him and in to the building. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

She disappears up the stairs and Steve leaves for work.

He smiles his way down the street to where he parked his bike, Natasha really was nice.

-

He starts running in to Natasha more often than not after that first time. He wonders if she’s making it happen on purpose, he even questions his subconscious to see if _he’s_ not making it happen.

Natasha laughs at him when he jokingly brings it up one particularly rainy morning. He’s leaving for work as usual, umbrella tight in his hand and the thought of hailing a cab present as the first thing to do the second he steps outside. Natasha is coming home, wet and barefoot and her cheeks red from running all the way here. He comments that she’ll get sick and in return she says that she doesn’t get sick easily, perks of being born in cold Russia.

“Why didn’t you just take a cab?” He asks holding the door for her.

She walks past him and promptly drops her heels and purse on the floor, proceeding to push her wet hair from her face and cleaning the droplets from her cheeks. “I don’t trust cab drivers,” She says with a frown. “James used to be a bike courier back when he was younger and cab drivers weren’t exactly fond of him, he ended up in the hospital more often than not because of one.”

Steve wonders if James and Bucky are the same person, he doesn’t ask though.

“You still haven’t answered me, Natasha. Are these encounters on purpose?”

She smirks. “As much as I enjoy your pretty face, Steven, no. These are not on purpose. The bar I work at just finished renovations, while they were happening we had to clear out earlier. Sadly this was probably the last time we’ll meet here, for a while.”

“I’m heartbroken.”

Natasha sighs dramatically. “Same.”

They bid each other farewell and Steve leaves for work on foot.

-

Sam is a baby when he’s sick and Steve would curse him out if he didn’t look so miserable from where he’s lying on their couch wrapped in a duvet like a burrito.

“I met our neighbor today,” Sam says in between sniffles, his voice sounds funny and Steve has teased him enough about it to last a life time.

“What neighbor?” Steve asks, his brow scrunched in concentration as he stirs a pot of chicken noodle soup to present to Sam with his medication.

“From across the hall. Not the girl, the dude.”

Steve curses when he stirs too harshly and a drop of the soup flies out and lands on his hand. “You met him?”

“Yeah. I was coming back up from getting the mail, he was coming down. I’m pretty sure he thought I was a zombie until I said hi. He said hi back, introduced himself and asked if I needed help. I politely declined, pulled the duvet tighter around me and came back to our couch. He seemed nice.” He pauses to blow his nose. “Sharon was right, ridiculously hot. And your type.”

Steve feels his cheeks heat up, he tells himself it’s because of the heat of the stove. “What do you mean?” He hates how his voice sounds and he knows Sam knows he’s very interested now.

“Tall, built like a brick shithouse, brunet, blue eyes and tattoos, wears a copious amount of leather. Honestly, that could not have been comfortable.” He pauses again to sniffle. “Had that aura of _I will snap your neck if you look at me wrong but I’m actually a cuddly bear_.”

“That is so not my type,” Steve protests turning to look at the burrito he calls his friend. Sam is already staring at him as best he can, his brow raised challenging Steve to deny it again. “Okay, fine, there are elements of my type there.”

“Oh, you mean all of the elements? I remember Erica from college, the only thing she wasn’t was built like a brick shithouse. And Peggy from the internship, the only thing missing from her were the blue eyes and the tattoos. I still have nightmares about angry Peggy and the Xerox machine episode. Not to mention Andy from the mail room at the office. I can keep going.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. Maybe he is my type but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna like him, I still haven’t met the guy and we’ve been here for almost ten months. Plus, he’s probably dating Natasha,” He mumbles the last part and he’s sure Sam hasn’t heard him because in that precise moment he has a fit of sneezing that leaves him moaning in self-pity. Then Steve realizes something: “You went downstairs to get the mail wrapped in the duvet?”

Sam shrugs as best he can. “I was cold and it makes me look a sexy chocolate burrito.”

“Your fever is worse than what I thought.”

“Fuck you, I can look like a chocolate burrito if I want.”

-

Steve feels his jaw physically drop when he comes downstairs to go to work that morning.

Standing by the mailboxes is Bucky. Well, at least Steve assumes its Bucky because he knows pretty much everyone in this building and he matches Sam’s description perfectly. And Sam was right, that amount of leather cannot be comfortable. But Steve has to admit it suits him, it suits his aura and his body and Steve’s jaw is still on the ground.

The guy turns, his hair getting in his face momentarily until he pulls it away with a tattooed hand, and starts walking to the stairs still looking at the envelope in his hands. He startles when he looks up and finds Steve just standing on the first step not knowing what to with himself.

“Jesus. What are you, a fucking gargoyle?” He asks after composing himself. Before Steve can even answer he curses himself and says: “Sorry, sorry. That was real fucking rude and gargoyles aren’t as attractive as you so you clearly look nothing like a gargoyle. I’m just really tired and sleep deprived and as you can tell my damn filter went out the window.”

“Hum…its fine. I shouldn’t be standing here like this anyway. To be honest, you caught me off guard just standing there. I haven’t met you yet. I’m Steve, I live across the hall from you,” He says offering his hand and completely ignoring the heat on his cheeks, praying to God Bucky doesn’t say anything about it.

Realization dawns on Bucky’s face as he shakes Steve’s hand. “Oh. So you’re the one that keeps Natasha down here pretty much every morning to talk for five minutes.” Steve tries to identify jealousy in his tone, maybe he doesn’t like that his girlfriend is talking to another guy. But he finds nothing except amusement. “I’m James or Bucky, everyone in the building calls me Bucky. I think I met your roommate yesterday. Weird guy with the duvet?”

Steve snorts pulling his hand back and shoving it in his pocket to keep it from shaking. “Yeah, that’s Sam. He’s kinda running on fumes and a lot of medication, I’m sorry if he freaked you out or seemed rude.”

Bucky chuckles. “No, it’s fine. He seemed really sick, I hope he gets better soon. I hear him sneezing in my apartment, it doesn’t sound pretty. The first time he sneezed it was so loud I’m pretty sure Nat’s cat thought a bomb was going off, I never thought that fat fuck of a cat could jump that high.”

Steve smiles looking at his feet and scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “Yeah, sorry about that. If he doesn’t get better soon I’m dragging him to the doctor.”

“You should ask Nat for tea,” Bucky says scratching his chin. “She has this weird concoction that does miracles, pretty sure there’s witchcraft involved. Every time I ask her about it she just says it’s a Russian secret and I just get more and more convinced there’s witchcraft in there somewhere.”

Steve laughs at that and absent mindedly looks at his watch. He has a meeting soon, he has to go. He doesn’t want to. “I have to go. Work.”

Bucky nods and touches Steve’s shoulder as he walks by him up the stairs. “It was nice to meet you, Steve. See you around.”

Steve’s heart is in his throat all the way over to work.

-

“He gave me tea.” It’s the first thing out of Sam’s mouth when Steve walks in the house after work, balancing mail and Indian take-out in his hands.

“What?” He asks confused as he closes the door with his foot.

“Copious amounts of leather from across the hall. He gave me tea and this shit is made out of the tears of some God because I feel so much better,” Sam answers showing him the cup.

Steve takes a few seconds to look at him. Sam does look a lot better, color back on his face and the duvet is thrown to the side. His voice sounds normal again. He’s smiling again, he actually looks happy and judging by the papers resting on the coffee table in front of him he managed to get some work done.

“Oh. Yeah, I met him this morning and he mentioned that tea. Said I should ask Natasha about it. I didn’t think he would come by and give it to you.”

Sam makes a knowing sound, blowing on his tea before smirking and asking: “So you met him?”

Steve rolls his eyes as he carefully places the take-out on the table and drops the mail next to it. “Yes, I met him. He was nice.”

Sam hums again. “And your type. I was right wasn’t I?” Steve groans. “Yeah, I was right. I’m always right.”

Steve doesn’t give Sam the pleasure of seeing him blush.

-

Steve comes to the conclusion that he is very much in lust with Bucky from across the hall.

The outfit he was wearing the first time they met didn’t really leave much to the imagination, leather could be considered Steve’s weakness but leather and an ass like was enough to send Steve to an early grave.

The next time they meet is on a Friday night and Steve holds the door for Bucky to get in the building, even offers him help with the grocery bags he’s carrying but Bucky declines. They chat for a while and then Bucky is gone and Steve is left there staring at his ass in those jeans and thinking about how that flannel was holding on for dear life against those biceps.

He almost collapses when one day he opens his door to go to work and finds Bucky standing by his door in his underwear casually talking to Lorraine, the nice old lady with the Rottweiler. It’s the first time Steve catches an eyeful of Bucky’s tattoo. The sleeve on his left arm, coming from the tips of his fingers to his shoulder, a red star resting on his bicep.

He hits rock bottom when on a certain Saturday he’s coming back from a jog and Bucky is coming down the stairs with Digglet, the Rottweiler, by his side. He’s wearing a tank top and gym shorts, Steve is pretty sure he has no underwear under them, his hair up in a bun and his hand tight around Digglet’s leash. He smiles at Steve and it’s like the floor disappears from under his feet.

He still manages to smile back as Bucky lets go of Digglet’s leash and he comes bounding over to Steve who crouches so he can pet him.

“Hey, buddy,” He coos scratching behind Digglet’s’s ears. When he looks up Bucky is smiling down at him, still. “Hey, for you too.”

“Hi. Coming back from a jog?”

“Yeah. You going?”

Bucky nods. “Lorraine asks me to take Digglet out for a little exercise once in a while. She says he’s turning in to a chubby house Poodle instead of the badass Rottweiler he actually is.”

“You’re perfect just the way you are, Digglet, don’t let them tear you down like that,” He says kissing Digglet on the top of his head before standing back up. He picks up Digglet’s leash and presses it against Bucky’s palm. “I’ll…I’ll let you go then.”

“You wanna join?” Bucky asks with a grin.

Steve chuckles. “I wish I could. I have work to do.”

“Another time then,” Bucky says biting his lip.

“Yeah, another time.”

They smile at each other as Steve walks by him and in the direction of the stairs. He turns quickly before he can reach the first step and calls out for Bucky before he can leave.

“Thanks for giving Nat’s tea to Sam. You didn’t have to.”

Bucky scratches the back of his head, embarrassed. “It was nothing. I stopped hearing him sneeze after a couple of days so I guess it helped.”

“It helped a lot. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Stevie.”

-

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Sam asks in a harsh tone. “Help a brother out, Steve is about to die from blue balls.” It earns him a pillow to the face.

All Sharon does is shrug and take a swig of her beer. “I told you, they tend to keep to themselves. How the hell should I know if they’re dating or not?”

“Hum, building gossip?” Sam says like it’s obvious.

Steve rolls his eyes from where he’s sitting on the couch next to Sharon, trying to show that he is very much not interested in this. Except he is.

“We don’t have building gossip,” Sharon says with a roll of her eyes.

“That’s a flat out lie, missy, I’ve heard some shit.”

“And yet nothing about those two. I keep telling you, they keep to themselves.”

Sam hits her with a hard look, his pursed lips twitching slightly. He takes one last swig from his beer before placing it on the table and standing up.

“Sam?” Steve calls out in fear. “You better not be about to do what I think you’re about to do.”

“Watch me. You fucking like this guy so I’m gonna clear this once and for all.”

And he’s out the door in seconds, marching down the hall and ringing the doorbell to Bucky and Natasha’s house. Sharon is off the couch so quick she almost spills her beer and she takes a place by the door, her eyes locked on Sam. Steve is behind her, like her smaller frame could hide him, and praying that no one is home.

He curses everything and everyone when the door opens and Natasha is standing in front of Sam in her pajamas and with a very fat orange cat in her arms.

“Hey, Sam,” She greets.

“Hey, Nat. Can I ask you something?”

Straight to the point.

Natasha seems taken aback for a moment and she turns around so she can put her cat back inside. She turns back to Sam and, after throwing Steve and Sharon a look over Sam’s shoulder, she crosses her arms and nods for Sam to go on.

“Are you and the dude that lives in your house fucking?”

Natasha snorts out a laugh, looks back at Steve and Sharon, turns back to Sam with a smirk. “Why? You interested?”

“Me? Oh, no. Steve is. But of course that if you and copious amounts of leather are a thing he will back off.”

“Copious amounts of leather? Seriously?” She’s clearly amused, Sharon is so red in the face from trying to keep her laughter in Steve thinks she’s going to explode and all he wants is for this to be over.

“Well, are you a thing?”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “No. We’re nothing more than best friends and roommates. I am very much taken with someone else.” She stands on her tippy toes so she can see Steve better. “Copious amounts of leather is a very single man, go for it.”

Sharon can’t hold it in any longer and she bursts out laughing, bending over herself. Steve wishes the earth would split open and swallow him.

-

He almost bolts back up the stairs when he sees Bucky coming in to the building in the morning two days later. He almost bolts back up the stairs and considers calling in sick for the rest of his life. But of course Bucky sees him and of course he smiles and of course Steve practically floats over to him, standing head to head now.

“Hi, Stevie.”

“Hi. How are you?” He sounds so awkward and ashamed he wants to die.

“I’m good, tired but good. You?”

“I’m okay.”

They stand in awkward silence for a few seconds until Bucky clears his throat and asks with a raised brow: “Copious amounts of leather, han?”

“Shit,” Steve groans. “Look, about that…I’m really sorry, I-”

His apology is cut short when Bucky grabs him by the loops of his jeans and pulls him closer, planting a kiss on Steve’s lips. Its open mouthed and completely filthy and Steve loves it. He cradles the back of Bucky’s head, hair tangled in his fingers, and opens his mouth so he can kiss back the same way.

Bucky’s lips are red when they pull apart and Steve tries to follow him, it gets a chuckle out of Bucky who indulges him with a small peck before leaning their foreheads together.

“You know, you could’ve just asked me if I was dating Nat or not,” He whispers around a chuckle. He bumps his nose with Steve’s. “I would have been very happy to answer you.”

“Would you?” Steve asks.

Bucky smirks, hovering his lips over Steve’s, his smirk widening when Steve tries to chase him with parted lips. He pulls away suddenly and walks past Steve. “Alas, you didn’t ask.”

“Are you upset?”

Bucky laughs. “Oh, Stevie, no. I don’t get upset, I’m too old for shit like that.”

“Then-”

Bucky interrupts him again. “Saturday night, a bar called _Black Panther_ , be there. We’ll talk some more. I’ll see you.”

He disappears up the stairs and Steve is left with his heart pounding and his lips numb from the kiss.

-

He brings Sam and Sharon with him.

Well, they glued themselves to him would be the more appropriate thing to say. He feels like a one man circus.

The bar isn’t what Steve was expecting.

He was expecting a hipster club type of thing, with techno music blaring and kids with fake ID’s packed inside dancing.

He finds a charming little two story bar filled with chatter and soft music coming from the stage on the left, a kid with white hair playing guitar while a girl with long brown hair sings. The people are sitting at tables or by the bar, sipping on drinks and sharing words, he hears the sound of a pool game happening on the upper floor. The walls are pure red brick contrasting with the lights and the dark color of the wood used on the bar and the tables and chairs. There’s even a jukebox standing by the bathroom doors, but it seems disconnected.

There’s a guy waiting tables, Natasha standing behind the bar cleaning glasses, Bucky next to her making a drink.

“Not what I was expecting,” Sharon mumbles next to his ear.

“Yeah, not at all.”

Steve leads them to the three empty chairs by the bar and they take a seat, waiting for either Bucky or Natasha to notice them.

Natasha notices them first and comes over, cat-like grin plastered on her lips.

“Well, hello there. I see you made it. What can I get you?”

They each settle for a beer and Natasha leaves them to attend to other people. Steve feels like he’s being watched the whole time. By Natasha through the corner of her eye, by the guy waiting the tables, by the two kids on stage, by some hidden set of eyes. And Bucky is gone.

The guy waiting tables appears by Steve’s side and whispers in his ear that Bucky asked for him outside, and then he’s gone again without an explanation or any other word.

It’s like a magnet is pulling him towards the door, towards Bucky, and he leaves Sam and Sharon without a word.

Bucky is leaning on the wall outside, his hands in his pockets and looking at his shoes.

“Hey.”

Bucky looks up with a grin, shaking his hair away from his eyes. “Hey. You came.”

“Well, I was curious on what we had to talk about.”

Bucky chuckles. “Copious amounts of leather?” He asks again.

Steve groans. “Just so you know that is all Sam, it has nothing to do with me.”

“He isn’t wrong though. I do own a lot of leather clothing items,” Bucky says shuffling the tip of his shoe against a small pebble. “Why didn’t you ask if I was dating Nat?”

Steve shrugs averting his eyes to the floor. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to seem rude, to you or her, or like I was intruding or something. Plus if I asked, you’d know I think you’re hot and that I like you and if you were in fact dating her you might be grossed out.”

“You think I’m hot?”

Steve looks back up, blush upon his cheeks and his lips parted in shock. “Really? That’s what you latch on to?”

Bucky shrugs. “I’m shallow.”

“Clearly. But yes, I think you’re hot.”

“Feeling is mutual.”

“Oh, you really are shallow. You think you’re hot too?”

Bucky laughs as he walks over to Steve just to push him away slightly. “Stevie thinks he has jokes.”

It’s Steve’s turn to shrug. “I don’t think I have jokes, I know I have jokes.”

“So full of yourself, God. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Thanks,” He mumbles around a smile, his cheeks heating up again.

“You’re welcome.” Bucky smiles back at him reaching to run his index finger over Steve’s hand. “But you don’t like me, Stevie. At least not yet.” Steve frowns in confusion, it makes Bucky reach up to smooth the crease in between his eyebrows. “You don’t know me well enough to like or dislike me.”

“I want to.”

“To like me?” Steve nods. “Is that you asking me out on a date?”

“Only if you want to like me too.”

Bucky grins. “Jokes, looks and game. I hit the jackpot.”

Steve grins back. “I can also cook a mean tuna lasagna.”

Bucky fake gasps. “Marry me right now.”

-

Bucky asks them to stay until after hours and now they’re sitting around two tables, the rest of the bar already cleaned.

Sam and Sharon sitting close together, Steve sitting next to Sharon and Bucky next to him with his arm around the back of Steve’s chair. Next to Bucky Natasha is in deep conversation with Clint, the guy who had been waiting tables and that Steve knows now to be her boyfriend, and the girl who had been singing on stage, Wanda. Next to Wanda there’s T’Challa, Steve now knows that he and Bucky own this bar together, he seems nice but Steve really hasn’t talked to him enough. The empty chair next to T’Challa belongs to Pietro, Wanda’s twin and the boy who had been playing guitar earlier, who was now coming from behind the bar with beers for everyone.

“Pretty girl,” He says handing a beer to Sharon. “And her handsome boyfriend,” He says handing one to Sam. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees Sharon blush and Sam stutter a bit but none of them open their mouths to correct Pietro, he buries a smile against Bucky’s bicep. “One for the red devil,” He moves on to hand one to Natasha that throws him a hard look.

“Don’t call me that. I can hurt you, you know that, right?”

“Don’t threaten my baby,” Clint says around a grin.

“Daddy-O.” Pietro smiles as he hands a beer to Clint. “Darling sister,” He says handing one to Wanda.

“Damn right,” Wanda mumbles taking a sip.

“Boss.” He moves on to T’Challa who tips the bottle in his direction as a thank you. “One for me.” He places one in front of the empty chair. “Cute blond dude.” He puts a beer in front of Steve. “Boss number two.” The last beer ends up in front of Bucky who frowns at Pietro and makes a questioning gesture with his hand. “What?” The boy asks sitting down.

“How come I’m boss number two?” Bucky asks in an outraged tone.

“I’m cooler than you.” Comes T’Challa’s calm voice. “And I’m the one who signs his paycheck.”

“Low blow, T. Really low blow,” Bucky says around a fake pout. Then he turns to Steve, his pout intensifying. “You think I’m cooler than him, right?”

Steve chuckles looking at T’Challa, then back at Bucky, pretending to be judging. “He is pretty cool.”

Bucky pulls away with a gasp, a real one this time, and leans in to Natasha’s shoulder who tries her hardest to shrug him off but ends up with a lap full of Bucky anyway. “Drama queen,” She snorts flicking him on the nose.

“Is this _attack Bucky night_ or something?” He asks sitting back up.

“It’s _attack Bucky night_ every night,” Wanda answers softly. “We just like to rile you up, see how dramatic you can get. I think T’Challa won tonight.”

“Agreed,” Pietro says taking a swig from his beer.

“Point goes to T’Challa tonight.”

Clint stands up then and walks over to behind the counter from where he pulls a slate and a piece of chalk. He writes something down and then nods to himself before putting it away again. “T’Challa has officially passed Nat,” He declares as he walks back to his seat.

Steve watches as T’Challa grins and raises his fists, Wanda and Pietro bumping them with their own right after.

“You got lucky, T, just you wait,” Natasha says with a grin of her own.

“What just happened?” Sharon asks around a giggle.

“We keep score of who can rile Bucky up the best every night. What can we say? The drama queen levels sometimes go through the roof with that one,” Wanda answers gesturing towards Bucky with her beer bottle.

“At the end of every month we count, whoever wins gets two nights off,” Pietro continues. “I won last month.”

“That was a damn fluke and you know it,” Natasha teases.

“Sore loser,” Pietro says behind a fake cough.

“You see how they treat me?” Bucky asks turning to Steve again. “Pretty sure this is some form of abuse.”

“It’s all with love,” T’Challa says around the rim of his bottle.

“Yeah, we love you, Bucky Bear,” Wanda coos from her seat, blowing kisses in Bucky’s direction.

“Lying liars who lie, all of you.”

Steve laughs along with the group. He can tell that these people are to Bucky what Sam and now Sharon are to him, family. He has to hold in his laughter when he realizes that if he and Bucky develop a relationship he is going to get the shovel talk from all these people.

After some time Clint gets up and says it’s time to get his babies in bed, as if on cue Pietro and Wanda stand up too.

Steve watches as Clint presses a kiss against Natasha’s lips, as Wanda presses a kiss against T’Challa’s cheek and Pietro squeeze his shoulder in goodbye. Then they come around the table and they each press a kiss on Natasha’s cheeks, Clint has moved to the other side to say goodbye to T’Challa.

“Don’t you two dare touch me, I’m hurt,” Bucky warns as Wanda and Pietro come closer.

“Aw, don’t be like that, Bucky Bear,” Pietro says in a soft tone.

“Shove that Bucky Bear up your ass, the only one allowed to call me that is your sister.”

Wanda giggles before hugging him from behind, leaning her chin on his head for a few moments before pressing a kiss against his hair. “You’re all talk,” She teases him before pressing another kiss and pulling away.

Pietro bows down to press a loud smooch against Bucky’s cheek, who tries to fight back at first but ends up giving in and just rolling his eyes until Pietro lets go.

The twins say goodbye to Steve and his friends, say it was nice to meet them. Clint does the same after completing his round of goodbyes and then the tree of them are off.

Sam and Sharon are next, saying their goodbyes and leaving hand in hand, Steve staying behind on purpose.

“Are they together?” Natasha asks after the door closes behind them.

“God, after this I hope so,” Steve answers drinking the last of his beer. “They’ve been dancing around each other since we moved in.”

It gets the laughter going around the table once more.

“You two should go.” T’Challa’s voice is almost a whisper, Steve only knows he’s talking to him and Bucky because he sees him gesturing with his hand.

“Yeah. Why don’ you buy Steve some breakfast? That joint down the street is already open,” Natasha chimes in.

Bucky turns to him, smug smile across his lips, but Steve notices the blush on his cheeks. “You in?”

“Sure. Why not?”

They say goodbye to Natasha and T’Challa and Bucky guides him outside with a hand on the small of his back.

“I think we should add Steve’s name on the board,” Natasha says around a grin, her eyes turning to T’Challa.

“You keep an eye out on the building and keep tally of his points,” T’Challa calmly orders.

“Sure thing, boss.”

-

Bucky walks him to this little diner down the street from the bar and, as Natasha had said, it was already open but only with the waitresses inside yet.

They take a sit on a booth and as Steve moves to pick up the menu, Bucky bats it out of his hands with a snort.

Steve looks at him in confusion.

“There are only three good things here. One, the waitresses. Two, the burgers and fries. Three, the coffee.”

“So we’re having coffee with burgers and fries?” Steve asks with a grin.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Bucky answers signaling the waitress.

Their coffee comes first and they take careful sips as, under the table, their feet intertwine.

“So, how come Clint calls Pietro and Wanda his babies? He’s far too young to be their dad.”

“Orphan kids that lived in the building across the street from the bar. Their parents died and they were by themselves on the verge of being evicted. Clint saved them, brought them in to our little family, and gave them a house. T and I gave them jobs, Nat gave them a shoulder to cry on if they didn’t want to bother Clint. They’re good kids,” He says affectionately. “And we’re all too fond of them to ever let them go.”

Steve smiles. “You and Nat?”

“High School. My mom thought we were gonna get married.” He pauses to chuckle. “We might have if we weren’t like brother and sister to each other. And if I didn’t like dick.”

Steve chokes on his coffee and like the asshole he is Bucky laughs. “Clint?” He asks trying to keep the conversation going.

Bucky snorts. “God knows. I can’t remember a time where he wasn’t there, little asshole sneaked up on us.”

“And T’Challa?”

“I used to be a bike courier and T’Challa worked at his dad’s company, I delivered stuff to them all the time. Always to T’challa. One day he asked me what I wanted from life, out of fucking nowhere, and scared the living shit out of me because he never said more than two words to me. I said I wanted to make my own money and he smiled. I thought he was hitting on me, it was really weird.” Bucky stops to laugh a little and take a sip from his coffee. “After that we always talked more and more and somehow that ended with both of us quitting our job and opening that bar. I guess that for him the wish to rebel against a rich family turned in to something real with a real dysfunctional family. He’s stuck for life now. His dad is really cool though, he’s proud of what his son managed to do with his friends. And man can old guy T’Chaka play a mean game of pool. Pretty sure half of his fortune is now money he won off of Clint and Pietro.”

Steve smiles softly. “I don’t think he wants to get out of it. He seems happy with all of you.”

“You think?”

“I don’t think it, I know it. You all seem happy, it’s nice to see.”

Bucky nods with a smile. “It’s your turn. You, Sharon and Sam seem like a tight knit group.”

“Well, Sharon sneaked up on us. We didn’t expect to get her when we moved in, she was a nice surprise. Sam was my roommate in college, we’ve been through a lot a together.”

“So Sam is the one I have to interrogate for dirt on you?”

“So Nat is the one I have to interrogate for dirt on _you_?” Steve counters with a raised brow.

Bucky laughs throwing his head back and Steve follows the lines of his neck, he has to turn to look at his coffee to stop the thoughts. Bucky’s laughter is joyous and loud and beautiful and Steve might already like him a lot.

“Fair enough.”

“There isn’t much dirt on me to be honest. I was a good kid. What Sam can show you are some old pictures before I became…this,” He says gesturing to himself.

“What do you mean?” Bucky asks with a frown.

“Believe it or not I wasn’t always the picture of perfect body and health. I was sick a lot as a kid mostly with asthma but also other things, I was skinny and weak. Halfway through first year of college my doctor thought it would be a good idea to get me on some meds and to get me a trainer. And suddenly I was this.”

“Wow.” He waits until the waitress goes away, having just left their burgers in front of them. “Well, good for you. Do you still get asthma attacks?”

“Only if I’m really, really sick. Freaked Sam out the first time I had one after the new meds, he thought I was rejecting them and dying or something. He would’ve beat you in drama queen levels that day.” The little jab earns him a kick in the shin, it makes him laugh. “Sorry.”

“I bet you were still cute, gotta ask Sam for those pictures so I can verify.”

Steve snorts. “Oh, yeah. I was always a heartbreaker.”

Bucky gasps. “I knew it.” He pauses to pick up his burger then he looks at Steve, nodding for him to do the same. “Now, this is about to be a religious experience. Are you ready?”

Steve nods and he fully intents on taking a bite at the same time as Bucky but he gets distracted by the man himself. As Bucky takes a bite a moan escapes his lips and his eyes roll in to the back of his head, Steve’s jaw drops again and he wonder if taking Bucky to bed would be a religious experience.

-

He and Bucky go on another date after that, this time Steve buys them dinner and they split the tickets and popcorn for the movie they see after. The popcorn ends up on the floor of the movie theater and they end up making out in the back of the room, the sound of the action happening in the movie in the background.

Steve, Sam and Sharon come by the bar often now and they always end up staying after closing hours in deep discussion with the others or playing pool or sometimes dancing, turns out the jukebox does still work.

So things are going great.

Until Steve gets home one afternoon and he can’t open the door because Sam left his key on the other side. He sighs exasperated because he really needs to pee and starts banging on the door.

Sam opens the door but not all the way and Steve can tell he’s shirtless.

“God, I don’t wanna know. Just text me after you’re done.”

Sam mumbles his thanks before closing the door on Steve and leaving him on the hallway, still needing to pee.

Then he remembers Bucky told him he would be home tonight since it was his day off so he dashes to his door and rings the doorbell.

He hears shuffling and then the door opens and he is faced with a very sleepy and disheveled Bucky. He feels his heart twitch at the thought that he woke Bucky up.

“Shit, you were asleep, sorry.”

Bucky offers him a tired smile and shakes his head. “It’s fine. What’s up?”

“I’ve been sexiled and need a place to hide until my apartment is clear, also I really need to pee.”

Bucky snorts letting him inside. “Please, feel free to hide for as long as you need. Bathroom is down the hall to the left.”

He presses a kiss against Bucky’s temple as he drops his bag and power walks to the bathroom.

When he comes back out Bucky is waiting by the door to what Steve assumes is his bedroom, the fat orange cat purring as he walks figure eights around Bucky’s ankles, and he nods for Steve to follow him. “You and I are gonna take a nap now, so take those shoes and that jacket off and get in bed with me.”

Steve can’t deny that request, he isn’t really tired or sleepy but this is an opportunity to hold Bucky in his arms.

Bucky leaves the cat, introduced as Woody, outside and leaves Steve to take his shoes and jacket off so he can flop face down on the bed. When Steve joins him in bed he’s quick to throw an arm over his waist and rest his cheek on Steve’s chest.

“Touch my hair and tell me I’m pretty.”

Steve snorts. “Shut up, you dork, go to sleep.”

He feels Bucky grin against his chest as he starts carding his fingers through his hair. He’s out in a matter of minutes.

Steve takes his time to look at him and study his features. He looks younger, softer, without a care in the world with his lips parted around soft sighs and his hand squeezing Steve’s shirt. Steve is gone for this boy and his fingers itch for his notebook.

He bites his lip as he carefully dislodges himself from Bucky and gets up, double checking if Bucky woke up before opening the door and leaving.

When he comes back, notebook and pencil tight in his hand, Bucky has moved to where Steve was laying and Woody has found a resting place on the curve between Bucky’s back and ass.

So Steve sits on the chair by the window and flips the pages until he finds an empty and then he gets to work.

He’s almost done, getting the last details on Woody’s fur, when Bucky wakes up.

“Hey,” He says sleepily, rubbing his cheek on the pillow. Steve bites his lip, he’s so beautiful. “Watcha doin’?”

“Drawing you. I’m sorry, I didn’t really feel like napping.”

“It’s okay. Did you drew me like one of your French girls?”

“You’re the reason why I can’t have nice things,” He protests throwing his pencil at Bucky who rolls away laughing and making an outraged Woody walk away in disgust.

-

“Fuck. Fuck, yes. _God!”_

“Shhh. The entire building is gonna hear you,” Steve warns against Bucky’s lips. He wants to make it sound like a joke, he’s sure he almost succeeds, but it comes out all strangled and _so close_.

“I could give two shits. Do you care?” Bucky manages to ask, slowing down his hips and digging his nails in Steve’s shoulders.

“Only if Lorraine hears, I don’t care about the rest,” He answers guiding Bucky’s hips in slow circles, burying his face in his neck and dropping kisses and little bites on the sweaty skin.

“Lorraine is visiting her daughter, she’s not home. Now stop fucking talking about our elderly neighbor and get back to what you were fucking doing.” It earns him a bite in the neck, meant to punish, but it only makes Bucky moan louder and Steve start moving faster. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“God, you’re bossy and you have a filthy mouth,” Steve says pulling away from Bucky’s neck, this time he manages to get some laughter in his voice as he pushes Bucky’s hair from his beautiful face.

“Things you should know already, Stevie. Just don’t stop.” Bucky will deny it later but Steve knows begging when he hears it.

He presses open mouthed kisses on Bucky’s shoulder, moans against the skin about how beautiful he is, how amazing he is. Bucky laughs, his head thrown back, all giddy and happy and _gone_ with the nails on his tattooed hand digging on Steve’s shoulder, the other covering Steve’s hand on his hip helping him guide their movements.

There’s a gasp and his nails dig deeper in to Steve’s skin and then Steve feels warmth in between their bodies and then Bucky almost goes limp on top of him. It makes him move his hips faster chasing his own bliss, Bucky’s little moans encouraging him.

When he finishes his arms squeeze tighter around Bucky holding him against his body, Bucky’s tattooed hand now cradling the back of his head while the other held on to the headboard in an effort to hold both of them in that position for a while longer.

“Fuck me,” Bucky says tired and out of breath.

“Jeez, at least give me a few minutes to reload.”

Bucky laughs using his tattooed hand to guide Steve’s face away from his neck so he can kiss him. It’s a small, chaste peck and Steve doesn’t mind it one bit. He pulls away and just locks eyes with Steve. Steve thinks he has never been looked at with this much adoration, he wonders if Bucky can see the same adoration in Steve’s own eyes.

“Where have you been all my life?” He asks running his thumb over Steve’s cheek.

“Where have _you_ been?”

After they lay side by side, naked and sated, and Steve runs his fingers over Bucky’s elbow, above the spot where he now knows to be the resting place of metal screws. The result of an encounter with a cab driver back when he was a courier.

“Sharon claims that this building has no gossip, the people who heard you will start some.”

Bucky grins. “I honestly could not care less, Stevie. They’re just jealous puritans.”

Steve grins back moving to press a kiss against Bucky’s shoulder.

-

Clint is the first to give him the shovel talk.

Natasha doesn’t count because technically they didn’t have a talk, all she did was throw him a look and Steve just nodded.

Clint threatens him with body harm if Bucky’s heart gets broken.

Wanda and Pietro use the poison approach, claiming he would never see it coming.

T’Challa just says: “I’m rich enough to pay for a full service hitman. Keep that in mind.”

Steve guarantees to all of them that he has no intention of breaking Bucky’s heart.

-

He leans over the bar so Bucky can kiss him properly, both pulling away with a smile.

“Hey. Fun day at work?” Bucky asks going back to clean the glasses.

“Fun enough. You having fun?”

Bucky shrugs. “Can’t complain. I’d much rather be in bed with you but I gotta come to work or else T will skin me and use it for a doormat.”

“That’s drastic, drama queen.”

“Don’t you start with that too.”

Steve smiles as he watches Bucky work then, after a while he says: “Hey.”

“What?”

“I love you.”

Bucky drops the glass and Natasha starts laughing from where she’s standing.

“Point to Steve?” Clint asks from the table he was cleaning.

“Point to Steve. You’re on the board, buddy,” Natasha answers as she writes down.

He couldn’t care less now that Bucky has come around the bar to kiss him properly, mumbling _I love you so much_ against Steve’s lips.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i thought i was done with the whole posting fanfiction on proper websites made just for that, turs out i'm not...oh, well.


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